three days. In one of his turnings among the
mountains he lost the Vera Cruz highway, and came out again upon a wide,
sandy plain, dotted with scattered cactus. As he was crossing it a
Norther came up, and blew with great fierceness. Sand was driven into
his face with such force that it stung like shot. The cold became
intense, and if it had not been for the serape he might have perished.

The storm was still blowing when he reached the far edge of the plain,
and came into extremely rough country, with patches of low, thorny
forest. Here he found a dilapidated bark hut, evidently used at times by
Mexican herdsmen, and, thankful for such shelter, he crept into it and
fell asleep. When he awoke he felt very weak. He had eaten the last of
his food seven or eight hours before.

Driven by desperate need, Ned ate wild fruits, and, for a while, was
refreshed, but that night he fell ill, suffering greatly from internal
pains. He was afraid at first that he had poisoned himself, and he knew
that he had eaten something not used for food, but by morning the pains
were gone, although he was much weaker than before.

Now he felt for the first time the pangs of despair. It was a full two
hundred miles yet to Vera Cruz, and he was in the heart of a hostile
country. He did not have the strength of a child left, and the chance
that he could deliver his message of warning to the Texans seemed to
have gone. He rambled about all that day, light-headed at times, and,
toward evening, he fell into a stupor. Unable to go any further, he sank
down beside a rock, and lapsed wholly into unconsciousness.

CHAPTER VI

THE MARCH WITH COS

When Ned came to himself he was surrounded by men, and at first he
thought he was back among his Texans. He was in a vague and dreamy state
that was not unpleasant, although he was conscious of a great weakness.
He knew that he was lying on the ground upon his own serape, and that
another serape was spread over him. In a little while mind and vision
grew more definite and he saw that the soldiers were Mexicans. After his
long endurance and ingenuity on the pyramid he had practically walked
into their hands. But such was his apathy of mind and body that it
roused no great emotion in him. He closed his eyes for a little while,
and then fresh strength poured into his veins. When he opened his eyes
again his interest in life and his situation was of normal keenness.

They were in a little valley and the